Comfort and Joy
by aurghhh
Summary: Emily and Paige spend a busy Christmas day together.


**A/N:** I actually wrote this last year for tumblr, but I thought I should post it here as well. I had to make up a fair bit of stuff about the McCullers family, so hopefully it all fits in with cannon. I'm working on a Paily Christmas fic for this year as well.

Sorry I've been so quiet recently. Just stuff has been getting in the way of writing.

Anyway, hope you enjoy.

* * *

Emily rang the bell of the McCullers home.

She had to admit she was a little nervous. This would be her first Christmas Day with Paige's family, and Emily was worried how she would fit in. Paige had warned her there would be a lot of people there, the whole extended family with aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews, and Emily knew Paige had a lot of those. How would they all react to her?

Paige and her mother answered the door.

"Merry Christmas!" Emily said.

"Hey Em, Merry Christmas!" Paige said. She was wearing a Santa hat and looked adorable, of course.

"Merry Christmas, Emily," said Helen.

Paige attempted to give Emily a hug and a kiss, though this was made difficult by the box of presents and a basket of food Emily was carrying. Paige quickly apologised, the took the box while Helen the basket, despite Emily assurances that she could carry _something_, and they all headed inside.

"How was your Christmas morning?" Paige asked Emily.

"Good, good," Emily replied. "How were the carols last night?"

"They were so much fun," Paige replied.

"Someone stayed up a bit late though," Helen added. "I had to poke her to keep her awake in Mass this morning."

"It was Brian's fault," Paige protested. "We all went back to his house and he got out the Christmas carol karaoke."

"I'm sorry I missed it," Emily said.

"We would have totally blown them away," Paige said. "Though Chels and Cait singing _O Come All Ye Faithful_ was pretty awesome."

The went into the kitchen first so Helen could drop off the basket.

"Do I spy one of Pam's famous apple pies in there?" Helen asked.

"You do," Emily replied.

"And tell Pam and Wayne their card was lovely this year," Helen added.

"They send their thanks too," Emily said.

"Oh well, you can just go and put the presents under the tree," Helen suggested.

Emily braced herself. This was it.

* * *

The McCullers house was big, and had a combined living, dining and entertainment area which had always seemed to Emily to be more than anyone could ever really need. Today, however, it was full. Emily knew that Paige's extended family was large, but she hadn't been quite prepared for this.

In the corner was a huge white Christmas tree, and on one side of the room a number of tables had been pressed into service to cater for the crowd. Around the edges of the room were couches and armchairs.

But the people, so many people. Emily knew that almost everyone here was in some way related to Paige. The adults were standing around talking, young children were running between people's legs, and the teenagers were mostly off to the side, avoiding both of those groups.

Emily and Paige made their way through the crowd to the tree and placed their box of presents beside it, the space immediately under the tree having already been filled.

"Come on, Em," Paige said. "I'll introduce you to everyone."

* * *

"Em, I want you to meet my grandmother," Paige said, guiding Emily across the room to an older woman sitting in the largest, most comfortable armchair in the room. She looked quite stern, and clearly dressed in her best church clothes.

"Granma, this is Emily," Paige said.

"It's lovely to meet you," Emily said.

"Well aren't you pretty," Granma said, her voice quite gruff. The compliment sounded matter-of-fact rather than especially friendly.

"So, do you live in Rosewood?" Emily asked.

"Just outside of town," Granma replied. "They shipped me off to a home a few years back."

"Granma had a mild stroke and now she needs care," Paige explained.

"I'm fine," Granma insisted.

"You are, but you still need care," Paige responded, patiently but firmly.

"It's not too bad I suppose," Granma said. "They look after me there. I don't like the way they cook the vegetables though. They're just mush."

"The food looks very nice today," Emily said, trying to lighten things up.

"Well, it should be," Granma said. "I must check on Helen, make sure she's doing the gravy right."

"She's fine, Granma," Paige said. "You can just relax."

"Oh well," Granma said, then turned back to Emily. "What does your family do for Christmas?"

"Ah, we went to Midnight Mass last night," Emily replied, "and we're having our Christmas dinner this evening."

"Well that's handy," Granma said. "Is Paige going to your family dinner?"

"Yes, she is," Emily replied.

"And your parents are OK with all this?" Granma asked.

"They are," replied Emily.

"Nick wasn't sure about inviting you," Granma said.

"Um, Granma…" Paige said, attempting to interrupt but with no success.

"He's just worried what some of the church folk will think," Granma explained. "I told him not to worry. Everyone knows about you two anyway. And I hear about the things they get up to, so they can hardly complain."

Emily didn't know what to say, but she didn't really need to say anything.

"I remember when we first found out about Paige," Granma continued. "We'd always thought she was a bit wrong in the head up until then, but when she said she was… what do you call it these days?"

"Gay," Paige replied.

"Gay, OK. We used to call it queer," Granma responded. Paige winced as she did. "What was I saying?"

"Don't worry Granma," Paige said.

"That was it," Granma said. "We found out Paige was… gay, but she got better after that. She wasn't going off and getting into trouble all the time. I suppose it's hard keeping a secret like that."

"It is," agreed Emily.

"How did your folks take it?" asked Granma.

"They were a little shocked at first, but they came around," Emily replied.

"I hear they're good people," Granma said.

"They are," agreed Emily.

"Helen always liked you," Granma said. "Nick, not so much, but we wore him down."

Emily was sure she shouldn't be hearing this, though the apparent support from Paige's mother and grandmother was a pleasant surprise. Paige looked across at her apologetically, but they both knew there was little to be done.

"I told Nick, at least she won't come home pregnant or anything," Granma continued. "Not like her cousin Terri. That Shane was a bad sort, I'm glad she got rid of him. Then there was Leslie's niece Sarah. She got knocked up too, though it worked out for them in the end. It's a bit of family tradition really. Do you remember Auntie Evie?"

"Emily doesn't know any of these people, Granma," Paige said.

"Oh, that's right," Granma said. "Anyway, you don't go worrying about what people say. You've been good for Paige, that's all that matters. You two just be happy together."

* * *

When it came time for dinner, a space had been made for Emily and Paige at one of the adult tables, next to Paige's parents. Several of the children insisted on them sitting at the children's table, though, so swaps were quickly made. Emily therefore found herself sitting on a short chair at a low table throughout the meal.

The main topic of conversation was what Santa had brought everyone.

"Did you get any toys?" one girl asked Emily.

"No, but I got a new phone," Emily replied.

"Oh," the girl said, clearly unimpressed. "You can play with my toys later if you like."

"Thank you," said Emily. "That's very kind."

* * *

The dinner was delicious. Roast turkey, chicken, ham, potatoes and a variety of vegetables. Emily had a full plate, but even then had to contend with several of Paige's Aunts who seemed to be worried that Emily didn't have enough to eat.

"Come on dear, there's plenty to go around," they would say. Or "But you're a swimmer, you need your energy." Or "A skinny young thing like you can afford to have some more." Emily politely declined, knowing she had to pace herself with desert coming up, and the prospect of the whole thing happening again with her family in the evening.

Desert was worth waiting for, too. The Christmas pudding with brandy custard was spectacular. After that Emily couldn't have anything else, though a number of people made a point of telling her how good her mother's apple pie was.

* * *

Once everyone had finished eating, Emily kept a keen eye on the room, so as soon as people stood up and started collecting empty plates she joined in. Soon she had her hands full and carried them out into the kitchen.

"What can I do to help?" she asked Helen.

"You don't need to worry," Helen replied.

"No, it's fine," Emily said.

"OK then, you can rinse the plates and stack the dishwasher," Helen suggested.

"Great," said Emily, setting to work.

"You're a very good guest," Helen said. "You probably get it from your mother."

"Yeah, I guess," Emily replied. "I do my best."

'Are you enjoying yourself?" Helen asked. "I guess it must be a bit intimidating with everyone here."

"A little," Emily admitted. "The Fields family Christmas is a lot quieter. But everyone has been really nice."

"If anyone isn't, just let me know," Helen said. "I mean, I don't expect there will be any problems, but I want to make sure you feel welcome."

"Thank you," said Emily. "But I'm sure I'll be fine."

* * *

Emily went back into the main living area. Preparations were underway for handing out the presents, and the children were eagerly gathering around the Christmas tree.

As she walked across the crowded room a small boy, possibly around six or seven, ran out in front of her.

"You're pretty," he said, then ran back to his friends who were all giggling.

Paige spotted Emily and waved her over to where she was talking with a woman and her young daughter.

"Emily, this is my cousin Aimee," Paige said, "and this little monkey is Rachael."

"Hello," said Emily. "It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise," said Aimee. "So you're Paige's friend?"

Rachael tapped on her mother's arm.

"Girlfriend," Rachael said. "Emily is Paige's _girlfriend_."

"Sorry," Aimee said, though Emily wasn't quite sure what she was apologising for. "Some of the little ones are a bit excited about having a new face at Christmas. I hope you like children because you might get a bit of attention."

"I do," Emily said.

"My mom said you and Paige can swim very fast," Rachael chipped in. "I can swim too, but not very fast."

"Do you like swimming?" Emily asked.

"No, but we have to at school," Rachael replied.

"How old are you?" Emily asked.

"I'm five and a half," Rachael replied. "I'm six in June. I got a bike for Christmas. Mom and dad are going to teach me how to ride."

"Bikes are good!" Paige said.

Rachael nodded enthusiastically.

* * *

The children distributed the presents, which worked well for a while until they wanted to open their own presents and started to neglect their duties.

Emily noticed one boy being pointed in her direction. He then came over, to her, looking over his shoulder a couple of times for reassurance, and presented her with a present.

"This is for you," he said proudly. "Merry Christmas."

"Thank you very much," Emily said.

It was from Paige's parents. Emily tried to carefully open it, but soon had to resort to tearing the paper off. Inside was a lovely knitted woolen hat. She looked over to where Helen and Nick were sitting, and saw them watching her in anticipation.

"Thank you," she called out. "It's beautiful."

* * *

After presents had been opened, they had to be played with, and Emily was indeed popular with the children.

One boy, Thomas, showed Emily his electronic game. She was a little surprised to learn that children still played Pokemon, but he was very excited about it.

Another group of children roped Emily into helping them with their lego. Emily's job was to read the instructions and direct the children in assembling the pieces. At times this involved delicately adjudicating disputes on how items should be assembled, but she coped with this.

One girl, Alissa, introduced Emily to her collection of soft toys, all of whom had names. She was very insistent that Emily talk to the toys, which Emily did, though she was occasionally unsure as to what she was supposed to say to them.

Through all this Emily saw little of Paige, as both of them were being continually dragged away, at times literally, by the children.

At one point they were both briefly playing a board game with a couple of the older children. It was a variation on Monopoly which Emily was taking a while to get used to.

As they played, Emily noticed one of the parents looking agitated. The man spoke briefly to Nick and the two of them left the room. Emily looked at Paige, who just shrugged her shoulders and kept playing.

After a few minutes Emily whispered to Paige "I need to go to the bathroom."

She left the main room and headed down the hallway. As she did she heard Nick and the other man speaking.

"But the children don't care," Nick was saying.

"Nick, you're our Deacon, people look to you."

"Well, they'll see a man who sticks by his family, whatever happens."

"You can't just give up on her."

"You know this isn't the life I would have chosen for her, but children grow up. They make their own decisions."

"And it's your responsibility as a father to make sure they make the right decisions."

The conversation was getting louder, and Emily realised that to get to the bathroom she would have to walk past the room they were in. She stopped.

"Wait."

Emily's heart raced. She turned around to go back, but realised she was to late. She looked and saw Nick peering from the doorway.

"I'm just… going… I have to go to the bathroom," she said.

She put her head down and quickly walked past.

* * *

When Emily emerged soon afterwards, the corridor was quiet. They had gone.

She made her way back to the main room, but as soon as she got there a group of five girls called out "Emily! Emily!" and ran over to her. One grabbed her right hand, one grabbed her left hand and one grabbed her jacket just to be sure.

"Come with us!" they said, dragging her towards the staircase.

Soon they had taken her upstairs into one of the bedrooms and sat her down at the dresser.

One of them produced a makeup kit, presumably a Christmas present, and put it down beside her.

"We're going to make you look pretty for Paige," the girl proudly announced.

"Paige already thinks I'm pretty," Emily protested.

"Oh no, I think we can do _much_ better than this," said another girl.

* * *

Emily looked at herself in the mirror. They had certainly made a difference. What they lacked in subtlety they made up for in colour, _lots_ of colour, and they were quite clearly pleased with their results. Emily wondered if this was what stage makeup was like, piled on so that people in the back seats can see it.

"You look beautiful now," said one of the girls.

"Let's show everyone," said another.

Emily reminded herself that she had expected a fair bit of attention, though maybe not quite this much.

The girls took her hands and led her downstairs.

As they arrived, one of the girls through back her shoulders.

"Look everyone!" she announced at the top of her voice. "We've made Emily beautiful!"

Every eye in the room was on Emily. Responses ranged from "Isn't that nice" to laughter. Emily just stood there, as there wasn't much else she could do.

One of the girls dragged Paige over.

"See, we've made Emily pretty for you," she said.

"Emily, you are a vision of beauty," said Paige, grinning from ear to ear.

"Why thank you," Emily replied.

The girls looked on with satisfaction, then quickly dispersed around the room.

Paige leaned in and whispered.

"Don't worry Em, they've done it to me too," she said. "We'll clean you up a little."

"Thanks," said Emily.

* * *

Emily and Paige were up in Paige's room, trying to tone down the makeup the girls had put on Emily.

"Don't wipe it all off," Emily said. "They were so proud of themselves."

"OK," said Paige. "We just don't want people seeing you and thinking we've hired a clown for the afternoon."

Paige did her best, but the makeup was just smudging.

"I might have to remove it then redo it a little more discreetly," she said.

"I suppose so," said Emily.

"It won't take too long," Paige assured her.

As Paige wiped off the makeup, Emily remembered the conversation she had overheard.

"Who was that man talking with your father?" Emily asked.

"Cyril," Paige replied. "He's a distant cousin of dad's. We mostly know him from church."

"Is he unhappy I'm here?" Emily asked.

"He's unhappy about me Em, not you," Paige replied. "Mostly he just doesn't like it that other people aren't as narrow minded as he is. Don't worry about him."

* * *

Her makeup fixed, Emily had joined the main crowd again. She was quickly separated from Paige, but decided to find Paige's mom, as she hadn't spoken much with her through the day.

She looked in the kitchen, but it was empty. At that point, however, Cyril appeared, having followed Emily.

"Emily, I just want to quickly talk to you," he said.

"OK," Emily replied nervously.

"Now, I expect you overheard some of my conversation with Nick earlier…" Emily nodded, "…and I just want to assure you that none of this is directed at you. You seem a perfectly nice girl and I'm sure the two of you are happy together."

Emily hesitated. She felt uncomfortable and her instinct was to avoid a confrontation, but her urge to speak won out.

"Then what could possibly be wrong with that?" she asked.

"Life isn't just about what makes us happy," he answered. "There are roles to play in life, and these include husband and wife, and mother and father."

"I can be a wife and a mother," Emily replied. "So can Paige. We don't need to change who we are for that."

"Are you a person of faith, Emily?" Cyril asked.

"Yes," Emily replied.

"Then you must know that God has a plan for you," Cyril said. "And that plan is according to God's law."

"I don't believe God has a plan for me to be unhappy," Emily responded. "And I don't believe He would give me the ability to love and expect me not to."

"I understand this must be difficult…" Cyril began.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think you do," Emily said. "You wouldn't be saying this if you did."

"Well, I can see we may have to disagree," Cyril said. "Please know that this is nothing personal."

"It is though," Emily responded. "It's very personal. Maybe one day you'll see that."

* * *

Emily sat with Paige for a while, watching the children play. She decided not to tell Paige about Cyril, but to just enjoy the afternoon. She felt energised by all the joy in the room. There was something pure about children with toys. Their enthusiasm, their creativity and their happiness.

Families weren't perfect, and Emily knew that well. But this was what it was about.

Emily loved children. One day, when the time was right, she would talk with Paige about that, but she knew that there was plenty of time for that.

* * *

"Hey Em, I think we should leave soon," Paige said.

Emily checked her watch.

"Oh, you're right," she said. "I completely lost track of time."

"The presents we need to take are in the study," Paige said.

Emily followed Paige through to a room near the back of the house. It was lovely, with floor to ceiling bookshelves and a beautiful wooden desk in the middle. What they were after, however, was the box in the corner.

"Has it been OK?" Paige asked.

"I've had a lovely time," Emily replied.

"I'm sorry about the makeup," Paige said.

"It's fine," Emily assured her.

Just then one of Paige's cousins appeared in the doorway. Emily vaguely remembered meeting him earlier in the day. He was a little younger than them and lived interstate, but that was all she could remember.

"Oh hi Colin," Paige said.

"Sorry, I hope I'm not interrupting," Colin replied.

"No it's fine," Paige said. "We're just getting ready to go. Hey, I'm sorry I haven't had much of a chance to talk."

"That's OK," he said. "You've been busy."

"How long are you in town?" Paige asked.

"Until New Year's," Colin replied.

"We should catch up some time," Paige suggested.

"That would be great," Colin said. "I was hoping I could talk to you at some stage. I need some advice."

"Sure," said Paige. "What about?'

Colin hesitated for a moment and quickly looked over his shoulder.

"About what you've done," he replied. "And how maybe I could…"

Paige suddenly transformed from relaxed to focused as she realised what he was saying.

"Of course, of course," Paige said. "I'm more than happy to help. Have you got my number?"

"No," Colin replied.

"Give me your phone," Paige said.

He handed her the phone and she busily entered her number. At the same time she got out her own phone number and added him to the contacts.

"We could meet tomorrow, if you like," Paige suggested.

"No, it's Boxing Day," Colin said.

"Of course," Paige said. "How about Friday?"

"Friday is fine," Colin said.

"Great," Paige said. "We can talk then. And if you ever need anything, just call me. Anytime."

"Thank you," Colin said. He was looking a little less nervous now.

"I will see you Friday," Paige said, giving him a hug.

"See you then," Colin said. "Nice meeting you, Emily."

"Nice meeting you too," Emily replied.

He stood for a moment, as if about to say something else, but then left.

Paige turned to Emily, her eyes wide with surprise.

"You've led the way," Emily said.

"Wow," Paige said. "I'm just glad I could be here."

Emily picked up the box, but Paige was just standing there, still coming to terms with what had just happened.

* * *

Emily and Paige were in the car, ready to leave, when Emily got a message notification.

Emily checked her phone. It was from Hanna and was just a series of pictures of shoes, a handbag and various items of clothing. Emily showed Paige, who just smiled.

They drove off. As the headed towards the Fields' house, Emily enjoyed the moment of quiet.

"Did you have a good time?" Paige asked.

"I had a lovely time," Emily replied.

"I hope it wasn't too noisy," Paige said.

"I liked it," Emily assured her. "This evening might be a bit dull after that."

"It will be great," Paige said. "I love your parents."

"They love you too," Emily said.

They drove a little further in silence, before Emily spoke again.

"This is how I want Christmas to be, Paige," she said. "You and I with friends and family. I want every Christmas to be like this."

"Yeah," Paige replied. "Me too, Em. Me too."


End file.
